Music star dies in Wisconsin plane crash - Dec 10, 1967 - HISTORY.com Music star dies in Wisconsin plane crash Share this: Music star dies in Wisconsin plane crash Author Music star dies in Wisconsin plane crash URL Publisher A+E Networks A plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin, kills soul singer Otis Redding and members of the Bar-Kays band on this day in 1967. The plane crashed into Lake Monona, several miles from the Madison airport. One survivor, Ben Cauley of the Bar-Kays, later reported that he had been asleep until just before the crash. He saw his friend in the band, Phalon Jones, look out the window of the small plane and exclaim “Oh no!” and, before he knew it, he was in a frigid lake holding onto a seat cushion. The following day, the lake was dragged and the bodies of the victims were recovered. A storm in Madison that day was a factor in the crash but the exact cause was never determined. Redding was not the only well-known singer to die in a plane crash. In 1959, Buddy Holly, along with the lesser known J.P.

“Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens, were killed in a crash that is thought to have inspired Don McLean’s well-known song “American Pie.” Country singer Patsy Cline died in a 1963 crash. Ten years later, Jim Croce perished in one in Louisiana. Key members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in an accident 1977. Singer John Denver was killed piloting his own plane in 1997. Four months after his death at the age of 26, Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay,” the last song he ever recorded, reached the top spot on the pop music charts. It was his first No. 1 hit.

Related Videos Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin - Dec 10, 1967 - HISTORY.com Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin Share this: Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin Author Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin URL Publisher A+E Networks When he left his final recording session in Memphis, Otis Redding intended to return soon to the song he’d been working on—he still had to replace a whistled verse thrown in as a placeholder with additional lyrics that he’d yet to write. In the meantime, however, there was a television appearance to make in Cleveland, followed by a concert in Madison, Wisconsin. On its final approach to Madison on this day in 1967, however, the private plane carrying soul-music legend Otis Redding would crash into the frigid waters of a small lake three miles short of the runway, killing seven of the eight men aboard, including Redding.

“Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” would be released in its “unfinished” form several weeks later, with Redding’s whistled verse a seemingly indispensable part of the now-classic record. It would soon become history’s first posthumous #1 hit and the biggest pop hit of Redding’s career. In the six months leading up to his death, Otis Redding had gone from one great success to another. In June, Aretha Franklin had taken a cover version of his song “Respect” all the way to #1 on the pop charts. Later that same month, the adulation of the young audience of rock fans at the Monterey International Pop Festival had transformed him into an icon of the blossoming counterculture thanks to his blistering, now-legendary live performance there. But if Otis Redding was only beginning to gain momentum within the largely white mainstream in 1967, he was already a giant in the world of soul music.

During a period in the mid-1960s when the Beatles and Motown ruled the pop charts, Otis Redding established himself as arguably the most exciting singer on the roster of Memphis-based Stax/Volt Records—itself arguably the most exciting soul and R&B label of the era. Singles like "I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (both 1965) were among Redding’s numerous top-20 hits on the R&B charts in that era, as were his soulful renditions of "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1966) and “Try A Little Tenderness” (1967). It was the latter song, rendered in the impassioned style that was by then familiar to soul audiences, that brought down the house at Monterey just a few months before his death at the age of 26 on this day in 1967.

Related Videos List of music stars who have died in air crashes List of music stars who have died in air crashes By The Associated Press Share 1 / 2 In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The California-born singer who rose through personal adversity to become a superstar adored by millions in a male-dominated genre of Mexican-American music, was confirmed dead in a plane crash in northern Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) In this picture taken March 8, 2012, Mexican-American singer and reality TV star Jenni Rivera poses during an interview in Los Angeles. The California-born singer who rose through personal adversity to become a superstar adored by millions in a male-dominated genre of Mexican-American music, was confirmed dead in a plane crash in northern Mexico, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) With hectic tours to often remote places, the music world has been hit hard by air tragedies over the years.

On Sunday, Mexican singing star Jenni Rivera and six others were killed when their Learjet crashed in rugged territory following a concert in Monterrey, Mexico. Here are other notable musicians who lost their lives in air crashes: — Dec. 15, 1944: Glenn Miller, the trombonist and leader of a hugely popular dance band, was killed when his plane disappeared between England and Paris while Miller was entertaining troops. — June 30, 1954: Gospel singers R.W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles died when the group's private plane crashed in Clanton, Ala. — Feb. 3, 1959: Rock stars Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens were killed when their chartered plane crashed near Mason City, Iowa, en route to a show. — March 5, 1963: Country singer Patsy Cline, whose hits included "Crazy" and "She's Got You," and fellow singers Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn.

— July 31, 1964: Jim Reeves, a country balladeer known for "Four Walls" and "Welcome to My World," was killed in the crash of a small plane in Nashville, Tenn. — Dec. 10, 1967: Soul singer Otis Redding died when his plane crashed into a lake near Madison, Wis. — Sept. 20, 1973: Singer Jim Croce, known for hits such as "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," was killed in a plane crash near Natchitoches, La. — Oct. 21, 1977: Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Stevie Gaines of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash in McComb, Miss. — March 19, 1982: Randall "Randy" Rhoads, lead guitarist in rock star Ozzy Osbourne's band, along with two others, were killed when their Beechcraft Bonanza allegedly flew too low while "buzzing" a band van on tour in Leesburg, Fla. — Dec.

31, 1985: Rick Nelson, "Ozzie and Harriet" TV star turned rock 'n' roller, died when his plane caught fire and crashed near DeKalb, Texas. — March 21, 1987: Dean Paul Martin, former member of the 1960s band Dino, Desi and Billy and son of entertainer of Dean Martin, was killed with his co-pilot. The two, flying an F-4 phantom, were members of the California Air National Guard. — Aug. 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan died when his helicopter crashed into a hill in East Troy, Wis., after departing from a concert. — Oct. 25, 1991: Bill Graham, who built an empire promoting concerts as rock 'n' roll turned psychedelic in the 1960s with groups including Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Santana, was killed in a helicopter crash near Vallejo, Calif. — Oct.

12, 1997: John Denver, 1970s superstar with hits like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," died in the crash of his experimental plane off the California coast. — Aug. 25, 2001: Actress and R&B singer Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas along with eight others. The twin-engine Cessna went down shortly after takeoff. — Nov. 24, 2001: Melanie Thornton, half of the pop duo La Bouche, which had '1990s hits such as "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams," died in an airline crash in Switzerland. — Feb. 12, 2009: Two members of jazz musician Chuck Mangione's band, Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, were killed in a commuter plane crash outside Buffalo, NY, along with 48 others. ___ News researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Reblog Top 10 Musician Plane Crash Deaths - Listverse Top 10 Musician Plane Crash Deaths Listverse Staff January 9, 2008 The life of a musician is a treacherous one. Many die from substance abuse, gunfire or even angry fans, whilst many, though seemingly a lot fewer, die of plain old age. There are some though, who have died from plane or helicopter crashes; many of whom are very well known and sad losses to the music industry. Here are the ten most famous. 10. Randy Rhoads March 19, 1982: Randy Rhoads (25), the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, died when the Beech Bonanza F35 he was aboard crashed into a house after a wing clipped Ozzy Osbourne’s tour bus. All 3 aboard were killed as a result of the pilot attempting to ‘buzz’ the bus. 9.

Otis Redding On December 10th, 1967, quite a foggy night, Rock ‘n’ roll singer Otis Redding (26), and four members of his Bar-Kays band were killed when their Beechcraft H18 plane crashed in icy Lake Monoma near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding is best known for his hit, “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”, which was released after his death. Redding had recorded the song just three days previous. 8. Ricky Nelson On December 31st, 1985, Rock & roll singer Ricky Nelson (45), five members of his Stone Canyon band, and his fiancée, were all killed when a fire broke out on board a DC-3 taking them to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas, Texas. Only two people survived the crash landing near DeKalb, Texas. The fire was caused by a malfunctioning heater. Nelson was first known as the son of Ozzie and Harriet in their TV show of the same name in the late 1950s.

He later became famous as the singer of such hits as “Travelin’ Man” and “Garden Party.” 7. Aaliyah August 25, 2001: Singer and R&B vocalist and actress, Aaliyah (22), was killed in a plane crash when leaving the Bahamas following a video shoot. Her Cessna 402-B crashed during takeoff. Investigations revealed that the pilot had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body, and, apparently, the airplane was overloaded. All nine people on board died. 6. John Denver On October 12th, 1997, Singer John Denver (53) died when his experimental single-engine Rutan Long EZ plane crashed near Monterey, California. At first, rescuers could not identify the body because the face was burned beyond recognition, but authorities were later able to identify Denver by his fingerprints. Denver was famous for writing and performing “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Country Roads”, “Rocky Mountain High”, “Sunshine on My Shoulders (Makes Me Happy)” , and other songs.

The crash occurred when Denver inadvertently pressed down on the plane’s right rudder pedal while trying to switch fuel tanks by reaching for the fuel selector switch behind him. The plane had been modified to place the fuel selector switch behind the pilot rather than between his legs. 5. Patsy Cline March 5, 1963: Patsy Cline (30), ‘Cowboy’ Copas, ‘Hawkshaw’ Hawkins, and Cline’s manager, Randy Hughes, were killed when their Piper PA-24 Comanche plane crashed near Camden, Tennessee, in adverse weather conditions. Cline was famous for her country hit, “Crazy.” Copas and Hawkins were Grand Ole Opry stars. The plane flew into severe weather and crashed at 6:20 p.m., according to Patsy’s wristwatch, found in a forest just outside of Camden, Tennessee, only 90 miles from the destination. 4.

Jim Croce On September 20th, 1973, Rock singer Jim Croce (30), members of his company (accompanist Maurice Muehleisen, manager Dennis Rast, and comedian George Stevens), and the pilot, died when their chartered Beechcraft E18S crashed while taking off from the Natchitoches, Louisiana airport. The plane hit a tree when it failed to gain enough altitude on takeoff. Croce was famous for his rock hit, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.” 3. Stevie Ray Vaughan August 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan (35) was killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin. Four helicopters were being used to night-transport the concert group. The helicopter in question, a Bell BHT-206-B Helicopter, remained at a lower altitude and crashed into the ground soon after taking off into dense fog. Failure to attain adequate altitude by the pilot before flying over rising terrain resulted in the deaths of all five aboard. 2.

Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines October 20, 1977: The Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash killed lead singer and song writer Ronnie VanZant, guitarist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick. Also killed were pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. According to the NTSB report, the pilots miscalculated the amount of fuel provided in Lakeland, Florida two days earlier. When they refueled in Greenville, South Carolina on the 20th, they compounded this error by believing they had more fuel than they really did. The airplane was also experiencing some mechanical difficulties which required the pilots to operate the right engine in the “auto-rich” position which burned fuel at an excessive rate. The combination of these problems resulted in nearly complete fuel exhaustion. The pilots changed course and headed for an airport near McComb, Mississippi but the plane stalled near Gillsburg, Mississippi and crashed in swampy woods. 1.

Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper On February 3rd, 1959, often considered: The Day The Music Died, Rock Hall of Famers Buddy Holly (22), the Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) (29), and Ritchie Valens (18) as well as the pilot Roger Peterson died when their Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed just outside Clear Lake, Iowa, during a stormy winter night. Holly was famous for many hits including “Peggy Sue.” The Big Bopper had one big hit, “Chantilly Lace,” and Valens was best known for his hits, ” Oh, Donna”, and “La Bamba.” The Quick 10: 10 Musical Artists Who Died in Plane Crashes | Mental Floss The Quick 10: 10 Musical Artists Who Died in Plane Crashes Image credit: Like us on Facebook Music fans know today as "The Day the Music Died" because a plane carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed in Iowa, killing them all.

The site of the crash is only about an hour and a half away from Des Moines, so it's a pretty big deal around here , especially since this year is the 50th anniversary. But there seems to be an inordinate number of recording artists who have died in plane crashes. I mean, probably not "“ since so many of them fly on small planes to get from gig to gig, it stands to reason that the number of deaths by plane crash would be higher in the music industry than any other profession. But still... it seems like a lot, and they're all certainly very tragic. Today's Q10 pays homage to 10 other music greats who met their ends via aviation accident. 1. Patsy Cline, 1963. Patsy may have had a premonition that she was going to die "“ according to June Carter Cash and Loretta Lynn, Patsy told them that something didn't feel right and she didn't think she was going to be around much longer. That was in 1962, and in 1963, the plane taking her from Kansas City to Nashville crashed just about 90 miles away from its destination. 2.

Ricky Nelson, 1985. There are lots of things you might know Ricky from - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, his teen idol days or as the dad of Gunnar and Matthew. He was also married to Mark Harmon's older sister, Kristin. By the late "˜70s, though, he was in a lot of debt and his wife left him and took the kids. He started touring almost constantly to try to dig his way out of his financial hole. It was a 1985 nostalgia rock tour of the South that would be his undoing "“ after playing a show in Guntersville, Alabama, he and his band were headed to Dallas to play a New Year's Eve show. It crashed northeast of Dallas, killing all seven passengers (the pilots survived). Investigation later showed that a fire had broken out in the cabin and the pilots attempted an emergency landing. 3. Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines, 1977.

The band was flying from Greenville, S.C., to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge; the plane went down about five miles outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. There is a lot of speculation as to why the plane actually crashed, but the official accident report says that it was a combination of fuel exhaustion, engine malfunction and inadequate flight planning. 4. Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays, 1967. Redding and his band were headed from Cleveland to Madison, Wisconsin, on December 9. They were almost there when the plane crashed into Lake Monona in Madison. The lone survivor of the crash, Bar-Kay member Ben Cauley, says there were at least some survivors even after the crash "“ he heard some of his fellow passengers calling for help, but help didn't arrive fast enough and the frigid waters claimed them. 5. Randy Rhodes, 1982. Chalk this one up to drugs and stupidity. Rhodes toured with Ozzy Osbourne after he went solo; you can hear his guitar work on Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley (among others).

Anyway, he, Ozzy and other members of the band were on their way to Orlando, but they stopped in Leesburg, where they picked up one of the tour bus driver's planes. The driver took some band members for rides, and was flying Rhodes and seamstress Rachel Youngblood around when the accident occurred. Aycock "buzzed" the top of the tour bus carrying the rest of the band members a couple of times, but the third time he did it, a wing of the plane clipped the bus and sent the plane spiraling. All three of the people on the plane were killed instantly, and were burned so badly that only dental records could identify them. It was later revealed that the pilot/tour bus driver had cocaine in his system at the time. 6. Will Rogers, 1935. Will was a big fan of aviation and was embarking upon a flight around the world with his friend, aviator Wiley Post. On August 15, they made a brief stop at Walakpa Bay, just south of Barrow, Alaska. When they tried to take off again, the plane stalled and crashed into the river, killing them both. 7. Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1990.

Stevie was touring with Double Trouble and Joe Cocker in the "In Step" tour; the tour manager had rented a helicopter for members of the tour to get from Elk Horn, Wisconsin to Chicago. Despite a little bit of fog, three of the four helicopters departed without a hitch, but the pilot of Stevie Ray's helicopter failed to reach the altitude necessary to clear the hill at the takeoff site and crashed into it. Everyone died. Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray's brother, Jimmie, were called to identify his body. 8. Aaliyah, 2001. Aaliyah had just finished shooting a music video in the Bahamas and was on the way back to Miami when her plane crashed. It was grossly overloaded because her crew insisted on bringing all of their heavy equipment back on the plane instead of sending it on a later flight. In addition, the pilot, Luis Morales, had apparently faked documents for his FAA license, citing hundreds of hours that he never actually flew. His autopsy also showed cocaine and alcohol in his blood, and it was his first day flying with the company that Aaliyah's team had hired to get them back to Florida.

Her family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit and settled out of court. 9. John Denver, 1997. Although he was an experienced pilot with more than 2,700 hours, Denver was flying an unfamiliar plane "“ the experimental Long-EZ aircraft "“ and crashed it off the coast of California. The official investigation thought that he probably accidentally pushed the right rudder pedal when he was trying to turn to reach the fuel handle, causing the plane to suddenly plunge downward. 10. Jim Croce, 1973. After finishing up a concert in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Croce was flying to Sherman, Texas for his next gig. It was a clear evening and visibility was excellent, but for some reason the pilot didn't get the plane high enough in the air to clear a pecan tree at the end of the runway. Reports speculate that the pilot, who had a history of heart problems, may have had a heart attack. Everyone on board died, including Croce's good friend and musical partner Maury Muehleisen. More from mental_floss...

Otis Redding: The Crown Prince of Soul Is Dead - Rolling Stone Otis Redding: The Crown Prince of Soul Is Dead Otis Redding: The Crown Prince of Soul Is Dead The singer dies in a plane crash at 26 years old Otis Redding Credit: GAB Archive/Redferns TThe Crown Prince of Soul is dead. More News All Stories Otis Redding , 26 years old, a former well-driller from Macon, Georgia, died in a plane crash in an icy Wisconsin lake on December 10. With him were the five teen-age members of the Bar-Kays, a group which made the popular instrumental, "Soul Finger," and who backed Otis on his recent tours and appearances. Otis was headed from Cleveland, Ohio, to a Sunday evening concert in Madison, Wisconsin. It was his first tour in the private plane he had just purchased. His plane hit the surface of the fog-shrouded lake with tremendous force, widely scattering the debris. He was only four miles from the Madison Municipal Airport. On Tuesday, teams of divers were still dredging the bottom of the lake in a search for the bodies.

The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Otis Redding Redding's singing career began when he won fifteen straight Sunday night talent shows in Macon. One day he drove with a friend of his to Memphis for a recording session, cut two sides himself and was immediately a major talent. Among the many songs he was responsible for were "Pain in My Heart," done in a later version by some of his greatest admirers, the Rolling Stones ; "Mr. Pitiful," a song so popular on the rhythm and blues charts that for a long time he was known as Mr. Pitiful; "That's How Strong My Love Is," another song which was picked up by the Rolling Stones. Among the others, Otis' great recordings included "Shake," a Sam Cooke song with which he broke up the Monterey Pop Festival; "I've Been Loving You Too Long," and "Try A Little Tenderness," soul ballads which he made so effective by singing the tenderest lines against driving uptempo beats.

Another great Otis ballad was "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa," also known as "Sad Song." The song he did which sold the biggest was his version of the Stones' "Satisfaction," which broke on many white charts as well as R&B surveys. In terms of conventional success, Otis never made it into the top twenty of the national pop charts; others had much greater success with his material. Aretha Franklin pulled off a million seller with one of Otis' favoirte original compositions, "Respect." Arthur Conley also made number one, with "Sweet Soul Music," a song Otis wrote and produced. In 1967 he replaced Elvis Presley as the world's top male vocalist in the Melody Maker poll, a position Presley had held for eight years. The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Otis Redding In 1967 he proved himself to be a master of production (he had a studio at his 300-acre ranch outside of Macon) and a writer whose material was not only suited to himself but to the entire medium.

His voice was rough, but it carried with it a style and a grace and an originality that was rare in the field of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, rock and soul or whatever it's called. Otis was a man of music. 1967 was the year that the Stax-Volt operation at Memphis replaced the Motown group in Detroit as the major influence on contemporary blues. Stax-Volt is a tightly knit group of writers, performers and musicians. (Otis wrote "Mr. Pitiful" and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa" with Steve Cropper, who also collaborated on "Midnight Hour," and Cropper is the guitarist with Booker T. and the M.G.'s, the Stax-Volt house band, the band which backed Otis at the Monterey.) The Memphis sound was going to take over soul in 1968. Everyone knew it, and Otis was the front man at Stax. In 1968, he was going to become "the King of them all, y'all." Otis was the Crown Prince of Soul, and now the Crown Prince is dead.

This story is from the January 20, 1968 issue of Rolling Stone. Remembering Ben Cauley and the Otis Redding Plane Crash, Brian Friel, Frankie Ford, John Guillermin - YouTube Remembering Ben Cauley and the Otis Redding Plane Crash, Brian Friel, Frankie Ford, John Guillermin Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Oct 26, 2015 The Last Survivor A TRAGIC PLANE CRASH, THE IRISH CHEKHOV, SEA CRUISE, AND STAR-STUDDED FILMS On August 10, 1967, the great soul singer Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin. With one exception, the members of his Memphis back-up band, The Bar-Kays, also died in the icy lake waters where the plane crashed.

That member was horn player Ben Cauley, who went on to distinguished career playing in Memphis. Brian Friel was the Irish playwright, often dubbed “The Irish Chekhov”, responsible for the play, Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). Frankie Ford was part of the New Orleans sound of late 1950’s rock and roll, and he recorded the memorable song “Sea Cruise”, written by Huey “Piano” Smith. John Guillermin was British film director responsible for The Towering Inferno (1974) and the remake of King Kong (1976). Ben Cauley (October 3, 1947 – September 21, 2015) was an American trumpet player, vocalist, songwriter, and founding member of the Stax recording group, The Bar-Kays. He was the sole survivor of the 1967 plane crash that claimed the lives of soul singer Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays Cauley was born in South Memphis, Tennessee.

He learned to play trumpet when at school, and formed a band with guitarist Jimmy King, saxophonist Phalon Jones, drummer Carl Cunningham, keyboardist Ronnie Caldwell, and bassist James Alexander. The group was originally named the Imperials, and later changed to the Bar-Kays in the mid-1960s. Cauley started attending LeMoyne College in 1965, before becoming a professional musician.[1] The Bar-Kays joined the Stax studio by 1966, and were signed on to Stax's subsidiary Volt Records in the beginning of 1967. According to James Alexander, Cauley was the best dressed of the group, always known to wear a suit, no matter the occasion. Al Jackson, Jr. the drummer with Booker T & the MGs, took a particular interest in the young members of the Bar-Kays and groomed them to become the second house band for Stax after Booker T and the MGs.[2] As such they appeared as the backing band on numerous recordings for Stax artists such as Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, and Sam and Dave.

In fact, Otis Redding took such a liking to the band that he chose them to be his touring back-up band in the summer of 1967. On December 8, 1967, Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays flew in Redding's twin engine Beechcraft plane to Nashville, Tennessee for three weekend gigs and used that city as a base to commute to additional gigs.[citation needed] The following day, December 9, they took the Beechcraft to Cleveland where they appeared on Don Webster's 'Upbeat' TV show with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Later that same evening they played at a popular Cleveland club, Leo's Casino. It was on December 10, on their commute to Madison, Wisconsin, that the men would meet their fate. At 3:28 in the afternoon, the plane carrying Otis Redding, his valet, and the majority of the Bar-Kays crashed into the icy waters of the Squaw Bay area of Lake Monona, just outside of Madison.

Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander had taken a different flight as there was not enough room left on Redding's plane.[2][3] Cauley, who was sitting directly behind Otis Redding in the co-pilot's seat, had fallen asleep on the flight clutching his seat cushion. He awoke when he realized he could not breathe. He said that he then saw band mate Phalon Jones look out of a window and say "Oh, no!"[3] Cauley then unbuckled his safety belt which ultimately allowed him to separate himself from the wreckage. Other victims, including Redding, were found still attached to their seats.[4] As the impact tore a wing off the small Beechcraft, the fuselage was torn open and Cauley was able to bob to the surface as he clutched his seat cushion. While bobbing and trying to swim to his band mates who weren't able to free themselves from the fuselage, Cauley witnessed their cries for help before they were pulled under the frigid water. A nearby resident of Lake Monona heard the crash and called the authorities who responded quickly with a police boat.

Approximately 20 minutes after the crash, Cauley was pulled into the police boat, suffering from hypothermia and shock. According to Jet magazine, which interviewed Cauley and the authorities who assisted in the rescue attempt, the rescue divers could not be in the water for more than 15 minutes at a time due to the freezing temperature of the water. Madison Police Inspector John Harrington was quoted as saying that a person without insulated SCUBA gear "wouldn't live longer than 20 or so minutes" in the icy water. When asked why he survived, Cauley told Jet, "I guess God was with me." Cauley claimed to suffer from nightmares about the accident until his death. Category The Day Otis Redding Died: December 10, 1967, Lake Monona, Wis. | Portal Wisconsin blog The Day Otis Redding Died: December 10, 1967, Lake Monona, Wis. By Brian D’Ambrosio, Editor Soul singer Otis Redding had acquired his own plane to make touring less hectic, but the twin-engine Beechcraft H18 would prove his fatal undoing.

At around 3:30 p.m. on a foggy Sunday afternoon, December 10, 1967, the plane, which encountered a storm en route from Cleveland to a concert in Madison, plunged into the frigid depths of Lake Monona. Redding, 26, and four members of his Bar-Kays band were killed. The musicians were headed to The Factory nightclub, scheduled to perform at 6:30 p.m. The crash killed six others, everyone on board except for trumpeter Ben Cauley (bassist James Alexander had luckily avoided the flight altogether). On the cusp of achieving pop superstardom, Redding, best known for his hit, “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” recorded just three days earlier and released after his death, was dead. The tune was Otis’ first posthumous release and his biggest-selling single ever, topping both the R&B and pop charts on its way to going gold. Engineers tastefully overdubbed the sound effects, the mournful cries of seagulls, the singer’s lonesome whistling, after Otis’ death.

About 4,500 mourners, including a dazzling array of soul giants such as James Brown, Solomon Burke, and Wilson Pickett, crowded Macon’s City Auditorium for Redding’s funeral, a week later. On December 3, 1997, thirty years later, hundreds of people showed up to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center to Georgia-born soul singer and songwriter. They’d never met the man, but they loved his music, and came to express their appreciation of the full impact of Otis Redding as a soul pioneer who inexorably altered the rhythm & blues landscape – and, ultimate, all of pop music- with his gritty, lustrous vocal, sexy, slinky lyrics and unforgettable songs. Cauley, who hadn’t visited Madison since the crash, received a standing ovation. He told his audience how he’d awakened early that Sunday four decades ago and headed to the Cleveland airport for the trip to Madison. That day, he said, Redding told him he’d just finishing recording the supremely meditative “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” A few hours later, Cauley was flung out of the plane on impact.

As he floated in the icy waters of Lake Monona, clinging to a cushion, he watched the rest of the plane’s passengers — including the man he once described as “…a groovy cat, like an older brother” — drowned. When his short speech was finished, Cauley sang some of the songs that might have been on the bill at The Factory, including a trumpet-laced version of Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” He was born in Dawson, Georgia, approximately 100 miles south of Macon, on Sept. 9, 1941. His family moved into a Macon housing project when Redding was three. He began singing in the choir of the Vineville Baptist Church. Now home to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Macon is arguably the vital center of soul. Little Richard, James Brown and Otis Redding – three men who shaped American blues music in from the 1950s to the 1970s and beyond — all launched their careers here. Strangely, although he consistently impacted the R&B charts beginning with the Top Ten appearance of “Mr.

Pitiful” in 1965, and he is remembered for producing some of the toughest, sweetest, most enduring soul music ever created, none of Redding’s singles fared better than #21 on the pop Top Forty. There’s one noteworthy aspect to Redding’s life not often touched upon: No one has anything unflattering to say about him. No scandals lurking in the closet, no unsavory incidents of rampant egotism to shatter his clean image, no shafting of his sidemen on long road jaunts. Just a sincerely talented soul man who enhanced the lives of everyone associated with him but died much too soon. Heartbreak never sounded good. Or happened so abruptly. The Dock Of The Bay | rhino.com The Dock Of The Bay Rhino Factoids: Otis Goes Gold Submitted by rhino on Fri, 03/11/2016 - 12:21pm 48 years ago today, Otis Redding earned the first gold record of his career, which also proved to be the only gold record of his career, owing predominantly to the fact that he’d been killed in a plane crash three months earlier.

Tags: Rhino Factoids: Otis Redding Wraps Up “The Dock of the Bay” Submitted by rhino on Mon, 12/07/2015 - 1:59pm 48 years ago today, Otis Redding recorded the second and final version of the song that would become the first and only #1 pop hit of his entire career. Sadly, it would prove to be a posthumous one, as Redding died in a plane crash only three days later. Tags: Coming Soon: Otis Redding, The Soul Manifesto 1964-1970 Submitted by rhino on Wed, 10/28/2015 - 11:47am Otis Redding was one of the defining voices in '60s R&B, and we're not just saying that because he released an album entitled The Dictionary of Soul, although that is actually kind of funny, now that we think about it. Really, though, all you have to do is look at a list of his top-40 hits to realize just how important he was in his day and how much he still means to music fans even now.

If you really want the definition of soul, just play those hits back to back - “I've Been Loving You Too Long,” “Respect,” “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song),” “Try a Little Tenderness,” “Tramp,” “Knock on Wood,” “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,” “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum),” “Amen,” and “Papa's Got a Brand New Bag” - and then see if you don't agree with us about that whole “defining voices” thing. Tags: Once Upon a Time at the Top of the Charts: Otis Redding, The Dock of the Bay Submitted by rhino on Mon, 06/22/2015 - 1:01pm 47 years ago today, Otis Redding posthumously earned the first and only UK #1 in his career with the album that produced a title track which became the late R&B artist’s signature song.

After Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, at age 26, it didn’t take long for Atco Records to dip into the various as-yet-unreleased recordings that Redding had made over the course of his all-too-brief life and come up with an 11-track compilation to serve as an epitaph of sorts for the singer. As it turned out, it wasn’t just a one-album epitaph – Redding had been prolific enough that they were actually able to release several posthumous efforts – but none of the others came anywhere close to delivering the impact of The Dock of the Bay, due to its title track, which led off the album.

Tags: Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: Otis Redding, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” Submitted by rhino on Mon, 03/16/2015 - 4:05pm 47 years ago today, one of the last songs recorded by Otis Redding before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967 became his first – and, sadly, his only – single to hit the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 and R&B charts. Co-written by Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” is easily the most iconic song in Redding’s back catalog, and while he’s certainly got a plethora of songs which rival it for the title of Best of the Bunch, it wouldn’t be an unreasonable selection if you wanted to place that particular crown on its head. Indeed, there are quite a number of other singers who’d probably agree with you, based on the number of times it’s been covered over the years.

In fact, it’s been covered so many times that we decided that we’d put together a playlist featuring 25 different versions of the song. Tags: Submitted by rhino on Tue, 12/09/2014 - 3:56pm Wow, we’re getting the strangest sense of déjà vu all of a sudden… Yes, that’s right: yesterday our Mono Mondays release was Otis Redding’s The Dock of the Day, and today we’re issuing the very same album on 180-gram vinyl. As such, what can we tell you – besides, of course, that it’s going to sound staggeringly good when you give it a spin – that we didn’t cover in our previous piece on this classic effort? Well, first of all, although we tackled the fact that Redding co-wrote the title track with Steve Cropper, we didn’t really get into the fact that Redding helped composed several other songs on the record, including “Let Me Come On Home,” a co-write with Booker T.

Jones and Al Jacobson, Jr., and three solo compositions: “Open the Door,” “I’m Coming Home,” and “Ole Man Trouble.” In addition, there are versions of “I Love You More Than Words Can Say,” written by Jones and Eddie “Knock on Wood” Floyd, and “Don’t Mess with Cupid,” by Cropper, Floyd, and Deanie Parker, along with covers of Billy Hill’s “The Glory of Love,” Jimmy Cox’s “Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down and Out),” “Tramp,” written by Lowell Fulson and Jimmy McCracklin, and Redding’s take on “The Huckle-Buck.” Tags: Mono Mondays: Otis Redding, The Dock of the Bay Submitted by rhino on Mon, 12/08/2014 - 3:01pm This week’s Mono Monday release is the first of what would prove to be many posthumously-released albums by Otis Redding, who had died only six weeks prior to its initial appearance on record store shelves, but there’s an eternal poignancy to its contents, as its title track proved to be the biggest hit of Redding’s career.

The 11 tracks on The Dock of the Day are taken from sessions conducted at various times between July 11, 1965 and December 8, 1967, only two days before Redding was killed when his plane crashed into Lake Monona, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin…and, yes, the title track was one of those songs that was recorded in those last sessions. Reportedly inspired by the way The Beatles had expanded their sound on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Redding wanted to try something different himself, and not only was he convinced that the song – a co-write between himself and Steve Cropper – was the best thing he’d ever recorded, he believed it was destined to be a chart-topper. Tags:

Question: Which male soul singer died when his plane crashed into a lake in Wisconsin in 1967?
Answer: OTIS REDDING